Cigarette tray



Aug 22 W5@ c3. J. KETCHAM 2953999@ CGARETTE TRAY Filed Feb. 2, 194.6

-Patented ug. 22, 1950 Unirse s'rATss FFICE 8 Claims.

This invention relates to cigarette trays and holders into which holders the lighted cigarette is placed vertically with its lighted tip downward.

An object is to produce a holder which will instantly stop the smoking of the cigarette when placed and held therein and simultaneously keep the tip alight the longest possible time, and which may be made of material best suited for holder use.

An additional object is the povison oi a cigarette tray having one or more hollow supporting projections extending inwardly from the peripl eral edge of the tray for supporting a vertical cigarette holder at the inner end, and anI ejector mechanism housed in said hollow projection and having a cigarette ejector beneath the holder and an operating member at the opposite end oi the projection so that pressure thereon ejects the cigarette from the holder.

Further objects and advantages will vappear from the description and claims to follow, in connection with the accompanying drawing which illustrates, by way of example and notI oi limitation, an embodiment of the invention7 and in Which- Fig. 1 is a plan view of one form of tray ernbodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a vertical section on the stepped line 2-2 of Fig. l;

Fig. 3 is a detail section on enlarged scale through the cigarette holder and its mounting; and

Fig. 4 is a detail sectional view on the line i-- of Fig, 2.

The tray itself, which may be of any desired form and construction, comprises preferably a zinc casting lil which may be substantially ol the form, size and proportions shown in l and 2 of the drawing, the periphery of which in general comprises the double langes l l and i2, the former merging into or from the bottom i3 of the tray and the latter flange having a seat in its lower edge for the reception of the peripheral edge of a bottom plate I4 covering the bottom of the casting. Suitable pins, rivets, screws, or the like, l5 may secure this outside-'bottom plate to the casting. Small felt pads or a single o-ver-all felt not shown, or similar material may be cemented to the outside of this bottom plate to prevent injury to the surface on which the tray may be placed.

Raised projections 2G are formed preferably at opposite ends of the tray and extend inwardly of the tray from the outer anges il and El, and since theyare duplicates the description of one (Cl. ESL-$40) will suice. The side walls at the inner end portion of the projection rise from the bottom i3 and at the outer end portion thereof from the top of the edge flanges ii and i2. The inner rim Flange il curves, as at El, into the side walls of the projections on ei her side7 as indicate-d, and the outer rim flange i? forms or merges into the rear vertically luted wall 22 of the projection. The tops of these projections 28 may be slightly curved transversely, as indicated by the shading. A srnall extension 23 of the casting Walls at the foot of the inner of the projection forms a vertical g e seat for the cigarette ejector to .be described. All corners are rounded so that the tray be res. y brushed out and cleaned.

Cigarette ejector niecharisins are located largely within these h low projections or housings Z. Each mechan: n comprises vertical movable eje tor 25, normally seated on the top of extension 23 ofthe projection 2! and directly below the cigarette holder, hereinafter described. The steif: or shaft 2li the ejector is adapted to move vertically and freely in a closeftting circular portion 25a, Fig. Il, ci the casting, the edges oi thesemi-circular walls of wl h are spaced vertically, as at 2i and to lor slots therebetween, all as further indicated a kerf or slot in the end of stern or s a cross pin all therein passes t rough a in the lever, as indicated.

The lever 2d is pivote-d on an inverted bracket 3i suitably secured to a depending cross wall 32 in the inside of the and is connected by a similar pin and slot arrangement with the lower end of the shank, shalt or ci the 4puslfi-button 3i at the top of the projection or housing 2li. This stem 33 has endwise sliding short slot vbearing as at 5@ in the casting; wall extendng from the cross wall 32 to the outer wall 22 of the housing, and between the button 36 and a seat in said wall around the stem 33 is a coil spring 35 having sufficient resilience to raise the button and lower the ejector` 25 and suiiiciently yieldable tc allow the button to be depressed by a slight downward push, and the ejector to swing up against the end of the cigarette in the holder and knock it out ci the holder so that it falls over into the tray.

The button 3i is preferably substantially square, as indicated in Fig. 1, and conforms transversely 3 c of the top of the housing and nonoally stai-id.: with its outer surface substantially flush with the outer top surface of the housing.

The cigar tte holder1 itself, designated herein broadly as H, which may be used with any suitable type of tray or holder support and not limited in its use to the tray disclosed herein, comprises the short or narrow band or ring 40 of thin material into which the lighted end of the cigarette is lightly pressed from above, the holder having the funnel-shaped guiding top il and sidesupporting strip 42 by which it is secured in a suitable groove to the top inner end of the housing 20, as indicated. This holder H lightly grips the lower end of the cigarette suiiiciently to hold it in upright position and with enough pressure to prevent thermal drafts up through and around it. The result is that with the lighted end of the cigarette inserted naturally into the holder with only its burning tip below the lower edge of the holder ring, all smoking stops instantly although the tip continues lighted until the combustion in the tip exhausts itself, which is usually until the oxygen in the air surrounding the lighted tip is consumed. This may continue for several minutes, during which time the cigarette may be removed from the holder and smoked in the usual way without relighting.

The continuation of the ighted condition of the tip is enhanced by making the holder as thin short as Possible under the conditions prevailing, and preferably of low heat conductingr metal and supporting the lighted tip free of contact with other parts. But the short thin metal holder tends to expand under the heat from the burning tip and, if the expansion were t@ become excessive, the cigarette resumes smoking because combustion will continue. To overcome this over-expansion of the holder, there is intimately associated with the holder a material of high heat conductivity and absorption quickly to absorb and carry away the excess heat therefrom which might cause such undesired expansion and to conduct it to a more substantial part of the metallic tray body where it is dissipated. Copper is found to oe highly satisfactory for the said material, and accordingly a relatively thick copper strip or bar e?? of the width of the strip 42 to the holder and intimately connected ith, as by soldering ll/l or the like, and is se ured along with the strip in the groove to the top ci pr iection of the tray, as by rivets, screws or the like, as indicated. This effectively prevents siich expansion of the holder ring 4S as to prevent the lighted cigarette from smoking after beinCr placed in the holder.

e material of the holder 4S is non'corrosive ch to prevent clogging up with gummy su anco from the burning cigarettes to such an :tent that it becomes necessary to scrape or otherwise clean out its inside surface at frequent 'nt 7als or to permit its continued use. Smooth-su aced noncorrosive stainless steel .0l5 to 035 inch thick has been found most ctory for the purpose, and accordingly the is made of it. It is noncorrosive, does not clog, will not stain from burning tobacco, is very :doth and is readily kept clean. In fact, the

n and withdrawal of the cigarettes acs all the cleaning that may be desired, in present under the conditions tends to its smooth surface. It is of low heat 4 less continuously while in the holder and the tip oi the cigarette remains lighted for several minutes.

It will be understood that holder H including its supporting strip l2 or the equivalent and heat conducting bar i3 may be made as a unit for use on many types of mountings, whether they be ash trays or other ordinary mountings capable oi receiving holder H to be used for such a purpose. Also, it will be understood that the heat conducting bar 43 need not be of any particular shape or size as long as it is o sufficient mass readily to conduct the heat from parts 4D and @ll or their equivalent.

Without further elaboration, the foregoing will so fully explain the gist of my invention that others may, by applying current knowledge, readily adapt the same for use under varying conditions of service, without eliminating certain features, which may properly be said to constitute the essential items of novelty involved, which ""ems are intended to be donned secured to me by the following claims.

I claim:

l. A holder ior lighted cigarettes comprising a thin metal ring-like holder adapted to receive the lighted downward end of a cigarette and gently to compress the same just above the lighted tip to stop the cigarette from smoking when first placed in the holder, and excess heat absorbing material connected with the holder to prevent the expansion thereof and the cigarette to smoke while still in the holder.

A holder for lighted cigarettes comprising a thin metal ring-like holder adapted to receive the lighted downward end of a cigarette and gently to compress the same just above the lighted tip to stop the cigarette from smoking when placed in the holder, and a relatively thick metal bar intimately connected to said holder to conduct excess heat rapidly away from s -i-:i holder to prevent expansion of the holder and the cigarette to smoke while still in the holder.

3. A holder for lighted cigarettes comprising a thin stainless steel ring-like holder adapted to be connected to a support and receive the lighted downward end of a cigarette and gently to compress the sa e just above the lighted tip to stop the cigarette from smoking when placed in the holder, a copper bar joined at one end to the holder and attached to said support quickly to withdraw heat from the holder t0 prevent expansion thereof and the smoking of the cigarette while in the holder.

e. A holder for lighted cigarettes comprising a thin metallic ring-like holder of low heat conductivity adapted to receive the lighted downward end of a cigarette and gently to compress the same just above the lighted tip to stop the cigarette from smoking when iirst placed in the holder, and a support for the holder including material of high heat conductivity intimately connected to the holder to prevent expansion of the holder and the cigarette to smoke while remaining in the holder.

5. A holder for lighted cigarettes comprising a metallic ring-like holder adapted to receive the lighted downward enti of a cigarette and gently to compress the same just above the lighted tip to stop the cigarette from smoking when rst placed in the holder, said ring holder having a supporting strip at one side adapted to be secured to a suitable base, and a copper strip soldered at one end to the holder ring and lying under and in direct contact with Said strip, whereby quickly to withdraw heat from the holder to prevent expansion of the holder and the cigarette to smoke While remaining in the holder.

6, A cigarette tray having one or more raised hollow supporting projections extending substantially inwardly from the rim of the tray, a cigarette holder attached to the inner top portion of the projection and extending over the tray body, ejector mechanism housed within the projection and having a vertically reciprocating ejector spaced Well beneath the holder, a push-button seated in the top of the projection adjacent its outer portion, a lever within the projection having one end connected with said ejector and its other end with said push-button, spring means tensioned normally to depress the ejector and raise the button, whereby when pressure is applied to the button the ejector is raised and strikes the cigarette a blow while in the holder and thereby knocks it from the holder and into the tray and upon release of the pressure the ejector and button return to normal position.

7. A cigarette tray comprising a body portion and one or more narrow hollow raised portions extending substantially inwardly from the rim of the body, a cigarette holder secured in a depression in the top of the inner end of one of said raised portions and extending over the tray body, a push-button in a depression in the outer end of one of said raised portions, an ejector beneath the holder, and a mechanism within and enclosed by the raised portion operated by the said button to raise the ejector and expel a cigarette from the holder, and spring means to return the button and ejector to normal position, the button when in normal position and the cigarette holder connection being substantially flush With the top surface of said raised portion.

8. A cigarette tray having one or more raised enclosed housing projections extending substantially inwardly from the rim of the tray, a cigarette holder supported by the upper part of the housing over and above the tray, ejector mechanism within the housing including an ejector spaced substantially beneath the holder and the lower end of a cigarette when in the holder, and a push-button seated in the top of the housing connected to operate said mechanism and thereby the ejector to cause it to strike and eject the cigarette from the holder.

CHARLES J. KETCHAM.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in th le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,691,564 Caldwell Nov. 13, 1928 1,776,563 Maccready Sept. 23, 193() 1,999,933 Jacob Apr. 30, 1935 2,177,142 Ketcham Oct. 24, 1939 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 16,443 Great Britain 1892 

